Long dormant Indonesian volcano erupts second day in a row

Mount Sinabung's first activity since 1600 catches vulcanologists off guard

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August 31, 2010 12:25AM (UTC)

Thirty thousand villagers were evacuated today as Indonesia's Mount Sinabung continues to blow its top, leaving a cloud of ash in the sky over a mile and a half long. This is the first time Sinabung has erupted in 400 years. Sinabung decided one eruption yesterday wasn't ostentatious enough, however, so it erupted again today with even more ferocity than before. Take that, Emmys!

Vulcanologists admit they had little idea of Sinabung's activity until it started rumbling, mostly because the volcano is 240 miles from the nearest monitoring station and located in a country with a LOT of volcanoes. Additionally, because Sinabung last erupted during the first run of "Hamlet," scientists have little idea of the volcano's eruption cycle. "We'll be watching it closely from now on," said Surono, a government vulcanologist. (Indonesians are often known by one name.)